Multimedia Laptops Buyers Guide
Sure, everyone enjoys watching web videos and having video chats with family and friends but multimedia notebooks offer a premium high-definition entertainment experience that you just won’t find with a more affordable general purpose laptop. Multimedia notebooks are often categorized as luxury or premium notebooks since these systems offer higher resolution displays for watching high-definition video and usually come equipped with faster processors and mid-range discrete graphics for 1080p Blu-ray playback, editing HD home movies and even watching 3D TV on select models.
Multimedia notebooks aren’t just focused on providing a rich visual experience but also frequently offer enhanced audio playback with software that automatically enhances music and other audio files. This category of laptops also often includes “branded” stereo speakers and subwoofers from well-known speaker manufactures built into the laptop so that you get theater-quality sound even when you’re watching movies on the road. Multimedia notebooks are all about content consumption and content creation so you can expect to find high capacity hard drives for storing your full library of photos, videos and music.
Most multimedia notebooks come with 15-inch or 17-inch HD displays, but there are some 14-inch premium entertainment notebooks that offer a better-than-average multimedia experience for those people who want a more mobile solution. Multimedia notebooks typically cost several hundred dollars more than a general purpose laptop with the same size screen due to higher performance components and often extensive use of metal or alloy in the construction of the notebook to provide a “luxury” feel.
17-inch multimedia notebooks that use a large percentage of aluminum or alloy might easily weigh more than seven pounds but a good 14-inch multimedia notebook shouldn’t weigh more than about five pounds.
Recent Multimedia Laptops Reviews
Review
Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Review
The Dell Inspiron 15 7000 series is a jack-of-all-trades with an i7 processor, NVIDIA graphics, loads of RAM and a large hard drive space. Is this the right choice for[...] Read full article
Review
Dell XPS 15 (2014) Review
This high-end multimedia notebook features a remarkable Quad HD+ screen, an aluminum and carbon fiber chassis and excellent performance. This is our take. Read full article
Review
Toshiba KIRAbook Review: Hi-Res Ultrabook With Style
The Toshiba KIRAbook is an ultrabook with both a high-resolution screen and impressive specs, but does it hold up under our scrutiny? Read our full review to find out. Read full article
Review
HP Spectre 13 X2 Review
HP makes its play for the popular convertible market with the 2-in-1 HP Spectre 13 X2. With a stylish design and a high-quality keyboard dock the Spectre certainly has its[...] Read full article
Review
Dell XPS 11 Review: Flexible or Flailing?
The 360-degree hinged Dell XPS 11 2-in-1 laptop/tablet offers a solid Windows 8.1 experience in both modes and offers good connectivity, but will its odd keyboard make it fall flat?[...] Read full article
Laptop
Asus Vivobook V500CA
Equipped with a fourth generation 2 GHz Intel-Core i7 processor, with integrated Intel HD graphics and 8GB of RAM the Asus Vivobook offers a solid amount of performance at its[...] Read full article
Asus Review
ASUS Vivobook V500CA Review
This 15.6-inch ASUS Vivobook delivers on most fronts, but masters none. Keep reading to find out what we like about this attractive laptop. Read full article
Laptop
Lenovo IdeaPad Y500
The Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 is an affordable gaming and media focused notebook. Priced roughly at $1,250 (at the time the unit was reviewed) the notebook hardly describes what many consumers[...] Read full article
Games Review
Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 Review
The Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 is an affordable gaming and media focused notebook. Keep reading to see if it delivers on the promise of "upgradeable" graphics. Read full article
Laptop
HP Spectre XT TouchSmart 15t
The HP Spectre XT TouchSmart 15t is a thin and light 15.6-inch Ultrabook that features a beautiful touch display with IPS technology, great backlit keyboard and a stylish design. This[...] Read full article
Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Review
The Dell Inspiron 15 7000 series is a jack-of-all-trades with an i7 processor, NVIDIA graphics, loads of RAM and a large hard drive space. Is this the right choice for[...] Read full article
Dell XPS 15 (2014) Review
This high-end multimedia notebook features a remarkable Quad HD+ screen, an aluminum and carbon fiber chassis and excellent performance. This is our take. Read full article
Toshiba KIRAbook Review: Hi-Res Ultrabook With Style
The Toshiba KIRAbook is an ultrabook with both a high-resolution screen and impressive specs, but does it hold up under our scrutiny? Read our full review to find out. Read full article
HP Spectre 13 X2 Review
HP makes its play for the popular convertible market with the 2-in-1 HP Spectre 13 X2. With a stylish design and a high-quality keyboard dock the Spectre certainly has its[...] Read full article
Dell XPS 11 Review: Flexible or Flailing?
The 360-degree hinged Dell XPS 11 2-in-1 laptop/tablet offers a solid Windows 8.1 experience in both modes and offers good connectivity, but will its odd keyboard make it fall flat?[...] Read full article
Asus Vivobook V500CA
Equipped with a fourth generation 2 GHz Intel-Core i7 processor, with integrated Intel HD graphics and 8GB of RAM the Asus Vivobook offers a solid amount of performance at its[...] Read full article
ASUS Vivobook V500CA Review
This 15.6-inch ASUS Vivobook delivers on most fronts, but masters none. Keep reading to find out what we like about this attractive laptop. Read full article
Lenovo IdeaPad Y500
The Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 is an affordable gaming and media focused notebook. Priced roughly at $1,250 (at the time the unit was reviewed) the notebook hardly describes what many consumers[...] Read full article
Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 Review
The Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 is an affordable gaming and media focused notebook. Keep reading to see if it delivers on the promise of "upgradeable" graphics. Read full article
HP Spectre XT TouchSmart 15t
The HP Spectre XT TouchSmart 15t is a thin and light 15.6-inch Ultrabook that features a beautiful touch display with IPS technology, great backlit keyboard and a stylish design. This[...] Read full article